Franklin named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championship, All-Big Ten teams announced.

Nicole Whitman comes to MSU as a volunteer coach working with the sprints and hurdles. As an actively competing professional track & field athlete, Whitman is currently training with Coach Gillon in preparation for the 2008 Olympic trials.

Whitman earned her undergraduate degree from University of Illinois in political science, where she competed for two years in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 400m, triple jump, and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays earning All-America honors on three occasions.

In addition to being the current indoor Big Ten record holder in the triple jump, Whitman scored at the Big Ten Championships for the Fighting Illini in every sprint event which she competed.

More recently she has spent the last two years training for the 100m dash under the tutelage of Brooks Johnson in Orlando, Fla., where she ran a personal-best time in the 100m of 11.12.

"We are really fortunate to have Nicole around, her experiences as an elite athlete and with highly competitive teams will go a long way in moving our program forward," said Drenth.